Dunedin-backed Hawksford, the international corporate, private client and funds business, today announced the opening of its first office in London following the acquisition of the corporate services division of audit and accountancy practice SH Landes LLP.
This acquisition comes just four months after Hawksford acquired Asia based corporate services provider, People & Projects (P&P), and is the seventh acquisition that Hawksford has made since it was backed by UK private equity house Dunedin. Internationalisation is a key feature of Dunedin’s approach to value creation in its portfolio companies.
As a result of the acquisition, Hawksford will be able to provide specialist corporate services from its central London offices on Oxford Street, which will be run by Steven Landes, a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years of experience in the international financial sector. Steven previously worked at Ernst & Young, before setting up SH Landes in 1993.
Shaun Middleton, Managing Partner at Dunedin who sits on Hawksford’s board, commented: “The opening of a London office was the obvious next step in Hawksford’s expansion plan and it follows the business’ recent success in Asia. Hawksford is fast becoming a truly global business at the forefront of the international corporate, private client and fund services industry.”
Hawksford’s Group Chief Executive, Michel van Leeuwen, said: “Our investment in SH Landes comes at an exciting time for Hawksford as we build out our global corporate services business. It provides us with a strong presence in one of the world’s leading financial centres and enables us to extend our service offering to international clients. We welcome Steven and his market-leading team to the wider Hawksford business and very much look forward to working alongside them.”